Isle Of Armor: 10 Highlights From Pokemon's First Expansion

10. That Coast Hogging Wailord

Moments after stepping on to the Isle of Armor, players are landed on the southern beach from where they can see the great blue 14 and a half metre frame of Wailord splashing round the peninsula. This isn't a cutesy bit of landscaping either; this is a genuine overworld spawn of the Float Whale Pokemon that you can go up to, swim around, battle, and even catch if you feel it's blighting your coastal views.

It's great, not just because its the kind of self-aware ridiculousness that the franchise needed to inject itself with, but also because it shows how much extra care has gone into the new map's design. Seeing the blue behemoth from so far off shows Game Freak are at least starting to push Pokemon's capabilities on the new hardware, but also marks the Isle of Armor as more alive and filled with fun and secrets than any other part of mainland Galar.